Cooling Embers

by Incandesca

Chapter 4: Seasons Change

Sunset stared ahead blankly. Misses Bubbling Brew wrote on the blackboard, going over formulae for basic transmutation. She knew them already.

Folding her front hooves, she rested her chin. She didn't get the point of review day.

They had their first test of the year tomorrow, and Misses Brew said it was 'important that everypony get a refresher'. Why? If it was so important they should have learned it themselves. Let the ponies who couldn't remember fail. It was their fault if they did if they didn't study, or weren't smart like her. She didn't even need to take notes.

Eventually, her eyes glazed over. She stopped listening, and cracked open her other, secret, pocket-sized sketchbook.

Every page had a doodle. Some half-finished. Some were small, with dozens to a page. Others took up the whole paper. She drew them in pencil or pen, but never marker or they'd bleed through.

She chewed on her eraser, thinking about what she wanted to draw. This was always the hard part. Sometimes her brain knew, but most times she couldn't think of anything. Nothing came to her so she decided to practice eyes.

"Excuse me. What do you have there?"

She jolted, closing the notepad. "N-nothing."

Misses Brew hovered over her. Her brows and lips pinched into a nasty frown.

"Open that notebook, please."

The please was fake. She wasn't asking. Sunset shook her head, clutching the book to her chest.

"Open it now, or I'll have the Principal take a look."

Sunset swallowed, and reluctantly obeyed. She didn't want to get in trouble again. Principal Primrose found out the truth about her and Tinsel and let her off the hook with a slap on the fet, but she couldn't risk it.

She opened to a blank page at the back. Misses Brew glared.

"Not that one. Show me the others."

She showed her more blank pages. Misses Brew snatched the book from her hooves. Sunset whined and reached out, but Misses Brew didn't reply. She went through each page herself, before showing her two filled in pages.

Misses Brew narrowed her lime green eyes. "Pray tell, would you be a dear and politely inform me as to what all this-" She gestured. "Mess is about?"

"My drawings, Misses Brew."

"I see. She slammed the book shut and didn't return it. "Is my class a joke to you, or do you think I'm teaching Art here?"

Sunset's head bowed. She kept her anger inside, but it bucked to get out. "Neither, Misses Brew."

Misses Brew scoffed. "You may not believe it, but there are ponies in this room whose name isn't Sunset Shimmer. Drawing during classtime is inappropriate and, worse, a distraction. I do not tolerate distractions under my watch."

She couldn't hold back. Rising up, her nostrils flared. "I wasn't doing anything. Drawing doesn't distract anyone or me and I already know this stuff anyway!"

"Tell you what," Misses Brew sang. She smirked at Sunset in a way that made her tummy ache. "If you think you're so prepared, why don't you come to the front and show the class how it's done. If you do that, you can have this-" She waved the book around. "Back. Does that sound fair?"

Sunset stood up and marched to the front, head held high. Waiting for instructions, she felt her classmates watching her. She brushed them aside.

Have to get the sketchbook back. Have to prove her wrong.

Misses Brew took down a wide array of bottles, tubes, beakers, and reagents from the shelves. Spreading them over a workbench, she pointed them out to Sunset.

"I was just going over the formula for a potion of simple invisibility. Since you already know so much, I presume you know how to mix one yourself."

Sunset hated her stupid face. She was so smug. Sunset couldn't wait to wipe it off. She could do this.

Because she was Sunset. Because she was smart.

Because she was better.

Staying quiet, she nodded and walked to the table. She looked over the materials and gulped. Invisibility was the hardest potion they'd learned so far. Misses Brew wanted her to fail.

If she thought that would stop her, she was wrong. Sunset loved a challenge.

One by one, she set up her station. Arcane Burner, mortar, pestle, three vials.

Next, she picked out the reagents. There were twenty on the table, but she only needed three. Or was it four?

It had to be four. She picked out Blinkroot, Breathberries, dried Wraithpeppers, and fresh, preserved Peepshrooms.

She had to cook the berries first, then push them through a sive. Then she minced the Wraithpepper, separated the mushroom stalks, degilled the caps, and roasted the Blinkroot. Once it was ready she threw it all into her mortar, and pounded with the pestle until it made a chunky blue paste.

Scraping it into a flask, she went over to the sink and poured half an inch of water inside. It fizzed, and she used her magic and a spoon to stir it up. Once the paste and water mixed she stopped, waiting as it belched in her face.

She scrunched her nose. It smelled icky, like that one time she forgot the apple in her saddlepack for a month. She had to get a new bag after that.

She watched it burble, each shiny bubble pop. She kept worrying it wouldn't quit and she'd done it wrong. Did she put in too many Breathberries? Or was she supposed to dry the Peepshrooms and rehydrate the Wraithpepper?

Her heart beat again when the reaction stopped. It took a second, but the dark blue liquid turned a bright, transparent cyan. To make sure, she leaned in and gave it a sniff.

It smelled like nothing.

Slowly, Misses Brew clapped.

Sunset puffed out her chest, grinning. She'd done it. She won.

"Impressive," said Misses Brew. She came to stand by Sunset and observed her work. "But it would have been more impressive if you'd made the correct potion."

Sunset's stomach dropped. "Wha- huh? But I did everything right!"

"Not quite." Beaming, the mare plucked a sprig of mint from the other reagents and dropped it into the flask. It smoked for a few seconds, then dissolved and turned the cyan turquoise. "I asked you to make me a simple potion of invisibility. You made a basic one. Now-" Her smile died. "Sit your flank down or I'll lock that notebook up for a week."

Something in Sunset boiled. It felt warm, almost hot, making her head big and chest tight.

She wasn't sure she liked it, but part of her did. It made her want to run and scream and fight and punch. Like the potion it bubbled, higher and higher, until she couldn't hold herself back no matter how hard she tried.

She snatched the potion back, and threw it in Misses Brew's face.

---

'I hate school,' she thought.

'I hate school. And I hate schoolwork. And I hate them.'

'Them' being her teachers. She really, really hated her teachers.

She hated detention too. It was even more boring than Misses Brew's boring lectures! Almost enough to make her regret what she did.

Except she didn't, not really. She got to see Misses Brew's face go invisible and yell. The whole class laughed. Thinking about that made detention a little better.

She wasn't getting her notebook back, though. It made her wanna cry. She'd been using that since summer and had a lot of great drawings in there.

It wasn't fair. None of it! She got the whole potion formula right except for one thing. That would be like getting an F on a quiz because you got one answer wrong!

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.

Fuming, she squirmed in her seat. The clock kept ticking and tocking at her and it was gonna make her go crazy. She wanted to go home and be angry, and draw mean things about Misses Brew in the sketchbook on her desk. Like her as a witch turning Misses Brew into a frog! That'd be funny.

She needed revenge on somepony, but it couldn't be Misses Brew. She'd know it was her if she tried. She thought about making another potion of invisibility to steal her notebook back, but that had the same problem! Ugh.

She had to pick someone else. Someone who'd been a jerk, and someone who wouldn't know where to look.

She grinned. She knew the perfect target.

Take that Misses Ugly Ew. Detention backfired. All she had to do now was make the plan.

---

On her way home, she paid attention to the buildings around her. She never paid them any mind, but now they had a purpose.

She kept watch for any brewing, alchemy, potion shops. She turned away from the fancy ones, since she had no way to buy what they were selling. Swan would be nice and lend her bits, but not too many.

Trotting through the streets, she pulled out her schoolwork notebook and wrote the names, stopping as she went. Toil'n'Trouble, Reagents4U, The Churning Cauldron... That last one sounded like a restaurant.

The shops thinned out, and she focused on getting home. By now it was sunset. The medium and dark gray slate of the bricks made the pretty colors seem dull.

Looking up, cracked roofs and old alleys turned into marble and gold. Towering spires rose up high, high, higher than she could imagine, so high she could reach out and touch Cloudsdale.

Something in her chest ached. She frowned. That place wasn't meant for fillies like her.

Why did they get to have things so much better? Because they weren't born an orphan in stupid, ugly Old Canterlot?

She bet if she had her parents she'd be up there. She'd go to a school where they taught her magic 'cause they knew she was smart, and she'd have lots of fun friends. Her throat started to close, and she forced it open.

They left her down here. So it didn't matter.

When she got close to the Orphanage, her stomach did knots. Swan was waiting for her, and she wasn't smiling.

Swan's eyes locked on her. She didn't speak until Sunset reached the porch level. "Sunset Shimmer," she said, flat as a rock.

Sunset waited. She wanted Swan to say something else, but she didn't. Swallowing, she answered. "Yes, Matron Swan? What is it?"

Swan sighed. "I think you're fully aware of what 'it' is." She sat down, patting the spot on her right with a wing. "Sit, sweetness," she said, and Sunset obeyed. "I wish there was a way to get inside that little head of yours, to help me understand how this keeps happening. If you knew how hard I try to defend you from suspension..."

Sunset blushed. She looked down, fidgeting with her hooves and massaging the badness in her belly. It was too tight. "I didn't mean to get angry. Misses Brew took my sketchbook away and made fun of me for getting something wrong and I just threw the potion at her."

"Sunset Shimmer."

She pinned her ears back, squeaking. "I'm sorry."

"Regardless of how mean she was or was not being, that does not give you the right to yell and assault somepony. And make no mistake, assault is precisely what you did. You may not have meant to hurt her, but splashing a potion - any potion - on someone is the kind of offense that can lend a pony prison time. You're lucky all it did was turn her face invisible."

"But she-"

"no buts! This is final, Sunset. Shape up your act, for my sake if no one else's. Tonight, I want you to write your teacher an apology, and hoof-deliver it to her tomorrow. Do you understand."

"Yes, Matron Swan."

"Good, now let's head inside. You're very late."

"Wait!" Sunset stood up, holding out a hoof. Swan turned her head. "I need stuff for Alchemy class."

Swan furrowed. "Go on."

Sunset breathed in. First step, go. "Since I got the potion she made me do, Misses Brew says I have to make it again at home, but I don't have any of the stuff I need. Can we go buy some?"

"We can do it tomorrow." Swan opened the door, waiting. "I don't have the time tonight. Besides, dinner is getting cold, and I know you like your gumbo hot and spicy."

Sunset beamed. She hopped up the stairs, troubles forgotten. Her first step worked! And she got to eat gumbo tonight!

---

She went out that Saturday. Her list had six total shops, but it only took three to find everything she needed. So she had backups, she bought extra vials and ingredients, fibbing that Misses Brew wanted 'consistent proof' she could do the work. Swan bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Convincing her she needed the kitchen took extra effort. Swan said she could hurt herself. Sunset argued she had to make it somewhere with a magical outlet. They worked things out though. Swan just called a Matron in to look after her, which was fine. She couldn't hide that she was making potions.

By Monday, she made a small stash. By the end of the week, she had a whole sack of them!

She made those by sneaking into the kitchen at night and brewing while everypony else was asleep. Every single creak in the floorboards freaked her out. The storm that hit on Thursday was worse.

She might never need the backups, but she liked having them. It made her feel safe. Never knew if she'd want them in the future, plus she could sell them later if she didn't.

She took the next step of her plan, buying something from the prank shop for two bits she picked off an older taller colt in the street. She wanted to take more, but didn't wanna risk getting caught. What would she even do with a whole wallet, buy Manehattan or something?

She tested her potion on it, seeing how long it lasted. She also learned she didn't need another potion or tonic to wash it out, just regular soap and water. She kinda wondered what'd happen if she drank it, but she thought she heard something about 'never drinking potions that aren't safe for consumption' one time and didn't know if hers were safe or not.

She set the trap the day before Nightmare Night. The school put up pumpkins and bats and spooky decorations all over, and some of the teachers wore costumes for fun. Miss Globetrot said she'd throw them a pizza party and Principal Primrose said they could all come to class with their costumes on Nightmare's Eve since Nightmare Night was on Saturday this year. Sunset went as a witch!

If only she could turn Misses Brew into a frog...

She came in early to Math before Mister Cosine showed up. She took out the thing she used her potion on and put it down on the right seat. Mister Cosine assigned all of them the same seat so she didn't have to worry about getting the wrong pony which was good, or she might have to come up with a whole other plan and that would be annoying.

When he came in, it took him a bit to notice her. One of his eyebrows rose, but he just said his usual 'Good morning,' and sat down to do whatever he did before class. He wasn't wearing any costume boo!

Everypony else shuffled in after her. She grinned and waved at Tinsel when she came in. She was wearing a princess costume - like Princess Platinum, not Princess Celestia - and stuck her tongue out.

Mister Cosine cleared his throat. Taking up the chalk, he started writing the lesson name on the board when Tinsel sat down.

Pllllbbbbrrrt!

Tinsel shrieked. She bolted up from her desk, screaming it wasn't her, and looked down at her seat.

Nothing.

Everypony laughed. Mister Cosine didn't say anything, but she thought she saw his mustache twitch a little like he was trying to stop smiling. She did that a lot too so she knew what it looked like, except she really didn't since she only felt what it felt like.

Mister Cosine cleared his throat again, and tried to get their attention. "Now now everypony, settle down. We're starting a very important lesson today-" The class did quiet down, but Sunset heard snickering around the room.

Tinsel, cherry red, sat down again.

Pllllbbbbrrrt!

The laughter roared. Sunset didn't join them. She stayed quiet, sneaky. She still smiled though. This was her revenge, all hers, and she did it all by herself.

Tinsel noticed.

Her face soured. She narrowed her silver eyes, flecked with gold like glitter, and hissed like a snake, drawing a hoof over her neck. "This. Isn't. Over."

Sunset smiled, and ignored her.

---

Sunset swaggered home.

She felt like a million bits. Nothing could ruin today!

Tinsel didn't scare her. Tinsel was mean, but she was dumb. Sunset could run circles around her, whatever it was she did. Sunset grabbed the whoopie cushion too before Tinsel could, so she didn't have any evidence to show.

This wasn't the end, though. Tinsel would try to get her back. Fine. Sunset could do that too, and do it better.

She turned a corner, the one with the old red brick alley and flickering oil streetlamp. Beyond that her Orphanage, where she could kick back and plan what else she could do. She'd have to go after Gold and Emerald next to even the score.

Her heart fell. Hard.

Swan was there, on the porch. She wasn't smiling.

Shoot.

Was she in trouble? Did Tinsel tell? Was Principal Primrose giving her a suspension? How did they even figure it out?

She approached cautiously. Head bowed, she prepared herself for another scolding and, probably this time, grounding. "Hi," she murmured.

"There you are." Swan pulled her into a winghug. Surprised, Sunset fought for a bit, then melted. Swan let go. "There's something I need to tell you. Follow me."

She turned, holding out her left wing. Sunset slid under the cover, brushing up into the soft downy. A million questions gone, in their place a million more.

Swan pushed open the doors, leading Sunset in. "We've brought in a new orphan today."

Sunset's ear flicked. "Okay."

"Yes, and." Swan frowned. She stroked Sunset's back. "How she came to us was not pleasant. I'd seriously refrain from asking about her parents, do you understand?"

Sunset nodded.

"Good." They turned a corner. "She's a thestral. Do you know what those are?"

"Uh-uh."

"In more common parlance, they are known as bat ponies. They are rare, and make up a very small segment of Equestria's equine population. Likewise, they often keep to themselves, not that they could be blamed. Equestria is a better place than what it used to be, but biases and unfounded fears run deep. So if you see anypony making fun of or being unkind towards her, let me know, okay? I'm trusting you to do that for me." She squeezed Sunset's side.

"Okay."

As they passed, Sunset studied the painting on the left wall, a recreation of Bran Oats' 'Starry Bright'. There was a low wooden table below it with chips in the wood, and a porecelain flower vase with thin spiderweb fractures.

She traced the painting's swirls and wilting petals, hoping they'd give her some sort of answer. She was confused. Why was she being told all this? For what purpose? She'd never been told about the arrival of a new orphan, and it wasn't like she was known for being the responsible or ponyable type either.

Swan stopped. She kept stroking her back. "I'm telling you all this," she said. "Because she'll be sleeping in your room for a while."

"What??" Sunset pulled back, mouth open.

Swan sighed. "It's only for now, sweetness. I know you prefer your privacy. She came here just today, and we need to sort out living arrangements and papers for her first. That usually takes a week. Oh come now, don't give me that look. Did you know I kept you in my office days after you came here? Oh yes, and let me tell you, I was the one who had to change your diapers."

"Ewwww, stoooop! I get it, I get it!"

"And you were a very stinky filly."

"Matrooooon!"

Swan cracked a grin, patting her with a wing.

"Hmph!" Sunset stamped a hoof.

"I'll quit now. Just behave for me, okay? She's very upset and sensitive at the moment. I'm not asking you to be her friend, but I am asking you to make her stay as pleasant as possible until she gets her own room. Believe me, I considered other options for where to place her or who with, but for whatever reason I trust you the most. Please prove to me that trust was not unfounded."

Sunset huffed, but nodded. "Okaaay. I'll try..."

"Thank you. She's in your room right now, reading I believe. Let's go get you two acquainted, hm?"

She dragged her hooves on the way there. It was her room. It wasn't supposed to be anyone else's. She knew the other orphans shared bunks in their rooms but she was supposed to be different.

She didn't want to make Swan upset either. She knew she wasn't like other kids, because she never got along super well with them or the adults. She tried to behave. She really, really did, but it was never enough.

They stopped at the door. Swan knocked. "Moonstone, sweetie? It's me, Matron Swan. I've brought your roommate with you." She waited. No response. "I'm coming in now."

Swan turned the lock. Sunset hid under her tail, using her own hair as more cover. If Moonstone couldn't see her, she wouldn't have to say anything.

The door opened. She saw Moonstone - and a thestral - for the first time.

She looked like a funny mirror of herself. She had a super bright coat, almost white, but a little blue and purple. Her hair was straighter, and the left went over her eye a bit like Sunset's except without the fringe. Two colors split her mane and tail in big stripes, the left whiter than her coat and the other one a deep blue like the ocean, even though Sunset hadn't ever been to the ocean.

She had big, wide, sparkly golden eyes like Sunset's fur. They were pretty, but the pupils freaked her out a little. And the fangs, and the bat wings, and huge fluffy bat ears! They were also kinda cute though, because bats were cute and nopony else really seemed to like them so she'd like them instead.

Swan looked down. "Come now, Sunshine." She started nudging her with her leg. "Don't be a silly filly. She won't bite."

Sunset held her leg tighter, peeking out behind her. "Uhm. Hi."

"Hi," Moonstone repeated. She was sitting on a mattress next to her bed, reading a book.

She was curious, so she let Swan go to get a better look. The cover was faded purple, and the pages were old and yellow. She tilted her head to read the title and gasped. "Poetry of Dragons, by Amber Flame?"

"Uh huh."

"I love that book! The one about the Old Dragon Lord is my favorite."

"Okay."

Sunset frowned. She looked up at Swan, who leaned down to her ear. "Don't take it personally, dear. She lost her parents very recently, remember? Just be nice."

"Okay," Sunset whispered back. It would only be a week anyway, then everything would go back to normal.

The next few days were slow, but it was fine. Moonstone didn't talk much, but she read lots. She also stayed inside a lot, too.

The other kids got really curious. Some of them asked about her, or asked Sunset if they could see her. She said no. It wouldn't be nice to let random ponies into her room without Moonstone's permission, and she didn't like Moonstone being there anyway so more ponies in there would just be annoying.

She didn't like what some of them said about Moonstone. A bunch were just really curious because they'd never seen a thestral, and they always watched her close when she came out for things. A bunch of others got mean though, making fun of her eyes, or fangs, or wings, or ears. It made Sunset think how she felt when Tinsel and her friends called her an orphan girl.

Sunset didn't get it, the mean kids or Tinsel and her friends. Moonstone looked a little weird and was like some bat pony or whatever, but she was still a pony.

On the weekend, Swan pulled her aside and told her she got Moonstone's 'documents' sorted. Apparently that meant Moonstone was going to attend school with her soon and move into her own room.

She'd miss reading Moonstone's books when she finished them, but that was okay. It would be her room again. After that, they saw each other in the orphanage a lot.

Okay, not a lot. Moonstone didn't come out that much still, but whenever she did she hid in a corner or stayed closer to Sunset. After a while she started talking with the other kids and let them touch her ears. She let Sunset touch them too, except Sunset wanted to touch her fangs. They looked cool and pointy.

Not everypony was nice to her. One colt with a dumb face said she was an ugly bat and shouldn't be there. The Matrons always came in to stop stuff like that happening and it worked, but the mean kids just started whispering to each other instead.

Some of the whispers got to Sunset, and she decided she was gonna start doing something about it. She made a secret list in her sketchbook of the ponies that were being mean or telling lies, so she could tell Swan about it later like she asked.

But she dealt with it by herself too. She got sneaky, watching the bad ones and staying hidden until they did something weird or gross. She'd remember it, and then start writing notes and putting them around the orphanage where other kids could read. The dumb face colt ate his own boogers, pinchy snout gargled her toothpaste, and freckles had a unibrow he had to shave every morning. She didn't need a list to keep those in her head, plus if she made one it would be evidence.

She started taking it further. Since she had those invisibility potions and wasn't doing anything with them, she stole a pin cushion and some pins from Matron Silky. Then, she covered them in the potion, watched the bullies to find their favorite chairs, and put the cushion on the seat when they weren't looking. She did it behind a corner, so when they sat down and got up yelling she could take it back without anypony noticing.

She thought they'd get the point, but they didn't, 'cause they were dumb. So on the first week of November, she went into Swan's office and read her the list. They didn't stop bullying Moonstone right away, but they got suspicious, and eventually they stopped.

It made her feel good. She still did the other things to them though, because that made her feel better.

The weekend arrived, and winter came early. Winter always came early in Canterlot, because it was colder up in the mountains. She missed autumn. The red and orange and gold leaves were pretty, and the dry brown ones were all dry and ugly. She hated them, but they were fun to crunch when they weren't wet. She felt like a giant when she stepped on them.

Plus, winter meant snow! And snow meant sometimes she didn't have to go to school, and it meant hot cocoa nights on Fridays.

On Monday morning, she got up early. She was still trying to be good for Swan so she could get her grade moved up like she said, but it was taking a while and she started to worry it wouldn't happen. She did it anyway.

Matron Piper came in to wake her up. She was a light green mare with a wavy rosepetal mane, and had Moonstone by her side wearing her own saddlepack. "Oh! You're already awake. Sorry Swan couldn't see you this morning. She was busy with a meeting - somepony's been spreading rumors about ponies here lately. Moonstone here will be starting school with you today, isn't that just peaches?"

Sunset nodded. She and Moonstone shared a tiny wave.

"Then let's get going!" Matron Piper chirped.

They opened the door, and Sunset had to squeeze her eyes shut. "Briiiight," she wined." Moonstone hissed and whimpered.

Sunset remembered seeing Moonstone staying up late to read without any light, which meant she must have night vision - so cool. Not cool when it was snowing, though.

Matron Piper hummed. "Full snow day today. Will you two be alright getting to class?"

Sunset nodded, puffing her chest. "Uh huh!" She looked over the mare's withers. "I can take Moonstone with me."

They waved goodbye, and Sunset pointed out the landmarks so Moonstone would know where to go without her help. She took them left, around the brick alley with the streetlamp, away from the big green signs because that led to the markets, past General Alchemical, and straight down the long line of shops. Moonstone listened, ears twitching like crazy.

They slowed down as they got to the schoolfront. It was three stories tall, and made from painted slate bricks and granite columns with a red roof. Sunset heard it used to be pretty, but that was a really, really, really long time ago. The pony that made it wasn't even alive anymore.

Before they entered, Sunset tilted her head. "Are you gonna be in my class?" She didn't know how old Moonstone was.

"No." Moonstone shook her head, pushing inside. "I'm eight."

Sunset gasped. "You are!" She whined, scraping the snowy porch. "I wish I was in third grade."

Moonstone nodded. She started to leave, but Sunset stopped her. "Wait! If you see Tinsel or Gold or Emerald, get away."

Moonstone blinked, slowly. "Okay," she said, and went around the left hall. Sunset wouldn't see her again until recess.

---

Everypony at school loved snow days. Sunset was one of them.

It was a good thing Prism had a huge courtyard to play in. Ponies were making snow ponies, and castles, and angels, and all sorts of other things. Moonstone was doing something on her own but she couldn't tell what. Sunset was trying to make a snow phoenix but it was hard because the wings kept falling off.

They still had ten minutes, though. She would get it eventually. If she didn't, there would be more snow days to try later.

The pegasi scheduled lots of snow from November to February, and sometimes October and March, or even September! She didn't get what the point of it was but Swan said the pegasi in Cloudsdale had a really big weather factory and helped the seasons change, just like Princess Celestia raised the Sun and Moon.

Sunset always thought that was so cool. Imagine how tough you had to be to raise something like that. She wanted to see the Princess one day and maybe attend a Summer Sun Celebration, but if she wanted to go that would mean the whole orphanage had to go and Swan told her that would be expensive and 'difficult to organize'.

Reaching down in her saddlepack, she pulled a carrot out of her lunchbag. It wasn't hers. She took it from somepony when they weren't looking, but she was using it to give her phoenix a beak so they'd probably understand.

Then, the snowball hit.

She didn't see who it hit or came from for a second, and didn't recognize the ponies when she did. That was all it took though. A bunch more ponies started throwing snowballs and laughing and shouting, so Sunset joined in, too. She took the carrot back, ate it since she was hungry, and smashed her phoenix down to make a wall around herself.

She liked using magic to make her snowballs. It was faster and easier, so she usually won against whoever she was fighting. Sometimes ponies called her a stupid nubhead and said that was cheating, but none of the ponies who asked for her help did. They knew she was the best. The rest were just jealous.

Peeking up from her wall, she built up her ammo pile. Most of her balls were normal size but she made some fat ones more like snow cannonballs. Those weren't a thing, but if she had a snowcannon they would be.

When she knew she had a good wall made, she started throwing. She didn't have the best aim - pegasi usually had better - but she had better than most of the earthers.

She hit one filly right on the face and cackled, then tossed her snow cannonball and watched it burst over the filly's whole head! She stumbled around with it covering her face for a few seconds, and then she fell over. Ponies around her laughed, and the smart unicorns like her and the teams they were on rolled up cannonballs like hers.

To the left, opposite of Moonstone, Tinsel and her friends stayed out of the fight. They made a three-wall barrier around them a little taller than them. Sunset wondered if she could bring it down if she packed one of her cannonballs tight.

Other balls sailed over her. A couple got her in the shoulder or chest. One hit her butt, and she got revenge on the filly who did it using her big ball on hers.

It was chaos! Especially when the other cannonballs started falling, making loud snowy explosions. There was so much going on she couldn't keep up with who was throwing what. Ponies dug trenches and formed battle lines and hid behind towers and castles, or tried to run around between everything without getting hit.

Sunset thought they were like soldiers on a battlefield. Tired, hungry, frostbitten, fighting to the last for their country and Princess!

It wasn't actually that cool, but she had fun imagining it was. If they lived in old Equestria, Before Unification, she could have been a knight or assassin. Or a knight-assassin.

Some ponies tried to play nice or not play dirty. Sunset wasn't one of them. This was war! Being nice didn't matter as long as you won, 'cause then you were the winner and nopony could do anything to you.

That was why Tinsel and her friends were the way they were. They won, so Sunset couldn't do anything to them. Not yet.

A snowball shot past her from the right. A second later it hit.

"H-hey!"

Sunset looked left. It had gone over Tinsel's wall, and smacked Gold in the face. Sunset looked right, and her stomach did knots.

'Oh no.'

Moonstone threw it. She had a fangy grin on her face and another ball in her hooves. She tossed it and got Tinsel's hair.

'Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no oh no.'

Tinsel screamed. "Everypony stop!" She kicked the wall down and took it apart, making a wall of snowballs in her magic that floated behind her. Gold and Emerald followed, heading Moonstone's way.

Nopony said anything. They just watched. Sunset wanted to move but couldn't, ducking under her wall so they didn't see her.

Moonstone stopped smiling. She looked around with wide eyes, before she settled on the trio.

Tinsel smirked. She got up close to Moonstone, juggling the snowballs in her magic.

"Lookie, girls. A stupid, ugly batpony."

Gold blew a raspberry. Emerald gagged.

"She thinks she can throw snowballs at us," Gold snarled. She wiped the snow off her snout and flicked it at Moonstone. She flinched, and backed up.

"Yeah," said Emerald, yawning. "But she's just a bat, and bats are dumb. I bet she doesn't even know who we are."

Tinsel beamed. "We should teach her, then!"

She threw a snowball. Moonstone yipped, brushing it off with her wing. Tinsel looked at it and sneered.

"Gross."

She threw another one. Moonstone stepped back.

Sunset remembered what they did to her in the hall. Spitting, and spitting, and spitting, and closing in.

Tinsel threw more and more, until Moonstone fell on her rump and started sniffling.

"Hey!" Sunset barked. She was so angry she forgot her snowballs, jumping over her wall and running to get in front of Moonstone. "Leave her alone!"

Gold rolled her eyes. "Anypony hear that?"

Tinsel shook her head. "Nope!" She tossed a snowball at Sunset. "Just an annoying orphan girl."

Sunset caught it mid-air.

"I said," she growled. She flared the energy from her horn, and made them watch the snowball melt in front of them. "Leave her alone."

Tinsel yawned. "Why? Are you marefriends or something?"

Gold kicked a hoof. "I heard the bat's an orphan, too. I bet that's why."

"That makes so much sense! Stupid dirty orphans have to stick together, right? Like pretty fillies have to stick together!" She bumped her friends' flanks, then threw another snowball at Moonstone.

Sunset didn't catch it in time. It got Moonstone in the eye. She curled up on the ground and cried.

Sunset felt that thing again. The thing in her chest and tummy. It made her excited, and sick, and it made her not care what happened if she did something that got her in trouble.

"Leave," she hissed. "Her alone!"

"Or what? You're gonna put a whoopie cushion on my seat again-"

Tinsel didn't finish.

The fire inside built up and up, bigger and hotter than the fireplace back home. She felt it burn, and her heart got so loud she couldn't hear anything. The base of her horn ached, and it started climbing, hurting at the tip the worst but in a good way. In a great way.

Sunset cast a spell she didn't know, and a ring of fire rose from the ground like a pop-up book, separating her and Moonstone from the three fillies. They shrieked and backed up too fast, falling on their rumps.

Sunset cocked her head. "I told you. You didn't listen."

Gold and Emerald scrambled to their hooves, running away. Tinsel yelled at them to come back but they kept going. She got back on her hooves and stared at Sunset with wide eyes.

She was angry. Scared, too.

Sunset smiled.

She pointed her horn at Tinsel, and gave her last warning. "Go away, or I'll burn you, too."

"Orphan girl." Tinsel spat on the ground, then ran after her friends.

Sunset went to Moonstone. She was in a tight ball in the snow, tail between her legs and covering her face with her wings. It sounded like she couldn't breathe.

Sunset put a hoof on her wither. Moonstone squeaked and shrank back. "It's okay. It's me. Sunset."

Moonstone peeked at her. Her pupils weren't little and slim anymore. They were round and black, like Matron Dejeur's kitty cat's when Sunset tried to pick him up.

Moonstone kept looking for a bit, before lowering her wings. "O-o-okay." She got up, shaky, and whispered so quiet Sunset almost couldn't hear her. "Why did you do that?"

"Because Tinsel and her friends are jerks. They're always mean to me, and I didn't want them to be mean to you."

Moonstone nodded. She lifted her eyes up to meet Sunset's. She stopped partway, staring at the fire and her.

Wait. Not at her. Behind her?

"What?" She looked around, trying to figure out what it was. "What's wrong? Are they back?"

She didn't find anything, and turned back to Moonstone.

"You're... you got your cutiemark!" she squeaked, jabbing her hoof behind Sunset.

The world stopped spinning. She didn't notice the heat from the fire. The chilly plume of her breath. The whispers from the courtyard. Time slowed down too much to notice anything.

It wasn't true. It couldn't be. That was crazy.

It took her a while to ask. "I do?"

Moonstone nodded.

She didn't believe it. This had to be a joke. Looking down, she expected to see her usual blank, orange yellow flank.

Instead, she saw a beautiful Sun.

It had arms, reaching out from the center in swooping curves. One half was a dark, colorful red, the other a light and mellow yellow.

'Light and dark,' she thought. 'Light and dark, light and dark.' What did it mean? Cutie marks were supposed to mean something.

Her mouth flapped up and down, dumb like a fish. What was she supposed to say? What the Tartaru- heck was she supposed to even think?

The ring of fire burned hot, melting the snow around them. Snowflakes fell and hissed into steam before they touched the ground.

Moonstone spoke for her.

"Can we be friends?"

Author's Note:

Chapters 5-8, with the exception of Intermission I, are old writing and will be rewritten soon. Continue reading at your own discretion.